USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6)

USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6), the third United States Navy ship of that name, was named in honor of John Paul Jones' famous frigate, which he had named the French language equivalent of "Poor Richard," in honor of Benjamin Franklin's almanac of that name.

Bonhomme Richard (a.k.a. Revolutionary Gator) is a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship currently homeported in San Diego, California. The contract to build her was awarded to Ingalls Shipbuilding on December 11, 1992, and her keel was laid down on April 18, 1995. She was launched on March 14, 1997, delivered to the Navy on May 12, 1998, and commissioned on August 15, 1998.

Table of contents

1 Mission
2 General Characteristics
3 Armament
4 Deployments
5 Unit Awards
6 The Bonhomme Richard Name
7 External Link

Mission

Builder: Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Miss.
Length: 844 feet (253.2 meters) overall, 778 feet waterline
Beam: 110 feet extreme, 106 (31.8 meters) feet waterline
Draft: 27 feet navigational, 28 feet limit
Displacement: 27,565 tons light, 40,500 tons full, 12,821 tons dead
Power Plant: Two boilers, two geared steam turbines, two shafts (70,000 shaft horsepower)
Speed: 20+ knots (23.5+ miles per hour)
Ships Company: 104 officers, 1,004 enlisted
Marine Detachment: 1,894 officers and enlisted

Previous Bon Homme Richards
- USS Bonhomme Richard
- USS Bon Homme Richard (CV/A-31)
Would Be Bon Homme Richards
- In 1864, Congress authorized the 3,700-ton AMMONOOSUC class screw frigate to take the name BONHOMME RICHARD, but the vessel was never built.
- On September 26, 1942, while still under construction, the name of CV 10 was changed from BONHOMME RICHARD to YORKTOWN (the previous YORKTOWN was lost three months earlier at the Battle of Midway).